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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: The Winter’s Tale
“We look back at Shakespeare and regret our absence from him because it seems an absence from reality.”
Conclusion to The Play’s The Thing Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Honestly, I can’t believe it’s over. For two and half years, We’ve been reading and talking and thinking about Shakespeare. And to help bring this to a close, … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts One Two and Three, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, king henry iv, King John, King Lear, language, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Prince Hal, problem play, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, sonnet, The Comedy of Error, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Timon of Athens, titus andronicus, tragedy, Troilus and Cressidas, Twelfh Night, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep.”
The Tempest Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————- Act Four: Prospero admits that the tasks he assigned Ferdinand were to test his love for Miranda, and he now gives them his blessing to marry with a masque performed … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Four, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, entertainment, Ferdinand, Ferdinand Miranda, island, language, law and order, literature, masque, nature, property, Prospero, Shakespeare, slave, such stuff as dreams are made made on, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, wedding, William Shakespeare, writing
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“A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a poor drunkard”
The Tempest Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Two: Alonso and his companions are searching for Ferdinand. Ariel, who remains invisible, send everyone to sleep except Antonio and Sebastian, Alonso’s brother. These two then plot to murder … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Two, Ariel, Caliban, cave, Comedy, Cymbeline, drama, entertainment, island, language, literature, Miranda, New World, Prospero, Scyorax, Shakespeare, slave, The Magic Flute, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“It is a scene which if taken prosaically is open to a flood of objections, but if taken poetically is near perfection.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————— From Harold Bloom: “The great advocate for the ‘law and process of great nature’ in The Winter’s Tale is the fierce and courageous Paulina, to be widowed when her … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, art, Autolycus, bear, Bohemia, Comedy, drama, Hermione, Hermione and Perdita, language, Leontes, literature, nature, Paulina, Perdita, Polixenes, Presumably Shakespeare, Prince Florizel, romance, seacoast, Shakespeare, Sicilia, statue, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Music awake her; strike./‘Tis time, descend, be stone more. Approach./Strike all that look upon with marvel.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————- Act Five: In Sicily, Leontes, still in mourning for Hermione, vows not to marry again without Paulina’s consent. When Florizel and Perdita arrive Leontes is captivated by the young … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Autolycus, Ceres, drama, entertainment, Florizel and Perdita, Hermione, language, late play, Leontes, literature, nature, Northrop Frye, Ovid, Ovidian, Paulina, Perdita, Proserpina, Pygmalion, romance, Shakespeare, statue, the real world, The Winter's Tale, The Winter’s Tale Act, Thomas Mann, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Underlying all is the one Ovidian myth that –beyond all others — informs the play: the story of Proserpina…”
The Winter’s Tale Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————— From Marjorie Garber: “At the act of act 3, however, these latent revivals are far from evident, and the barrenness of time in Sicilia appears in marked contrast with … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Autolycus, Comedy, Dis, drama, entertainment, Florizel, Florizel and Perdita, Hermione, King Polixenes, language, Leontes, literature, myth, nature, Ovid, Perdita, Polixenes, Prince Florizel, Prosperina, Shakespeare, sheepshearing, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Daffodils,/That come before the swallow dares, and take/The winds of March with beauty…
The Winter’s Tale Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Four: The action is restarted sixteen years later by the figure of time – Perdita has grown up in Bohemia as the daughter of the Shepherd. More recently, … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Autolycus, Bohemia, clown, Comedy, dance, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Florizel, Hermione, joy, King Leontes, language, literature, nature, pastoral, Perdita, Polixenes, Prince Florizel, romance, Shakespeare, sheep-shearing, Shepherd, The Winter's Tale, The Winter’s Tale Act Four, William Shakespeare
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“No full-length Shakespearian tragedy reaches the intensity of these three acts; they move with a whirling, sickening, speed.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————- First off, some highlights from Mark Van Doren, without the most often used quotes from the play: “’The Winter’s Tale’ tells of grievous divisions between friend and friend (Leontes … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, drama, Elizabethan tragedy, Hermione, Iago, jealousy, language, Last Plays, late play, Leontes, literature, Mark Van Doren, nature, obsession, Othello, Paulina, Perdita, Polixenes, romance, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Language, the Shepherd, The Winter's Tale, The Winter’s Tale Act Three, tragicomedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Exit, pursued by a bear.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————————- Act Three: Leontes formally accuses Hermione of adultery and plotting to kill him, but she remains firm in her innocence and declares that Apollo will be her judge. But … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Antigonus, bear, Bohemia, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Exit, Hermione, King Polixenes, language, Leontes, literature, Mamillius, Paulina, Perdita, Polixenes, Pursued by a Beat, Queen Hermione, Shakespeare, the Shepherd, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing
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“A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one/Of sprites and goblins.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— G. Wilson Knight had a special feeling for Shakespeare’s late plays, and his writings helped to bring added attention to them. This, from his The Crown of Life: ‘But … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Apollo, Christian, drama, entertainment, G. Wilson Knight, Hermione, jealousy, King Lear, language, Leontes, literature, Macbeth, Mamillius, pagan, Polixenes, Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing
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The Play's The Thing 